Leave It to Beaver star reveals weight loss following major health scare
Jerry Mathers, who is best known as playing the cheeky little brother the US sitcom Leave It to Beaver, has revealed he suffered a terrifying health scare that forced him to take stock of his life and make some dramatic lifestyle changes.
The 69-year-old child star, who was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in 1997, recently admitted he was told, at one stage, he would only have three to five years to live if he didn't manage his condition.
"I was living the good life,” Jerry told Fox News this week. "I had side businesses and one of them was a catering business. And I was doing a lot of motion picture and television catering for crews, which is for about 100-200 people. It’s like setting up a whole restaurant."
The actor, affectionately remembered as Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver, said he was eating five to six full meals on a normal day.
"I was around food all the time and I was a very good cook," he recalled. "I was making a lot of money, everything was going great, and everyone around me was at least as fat as I was."
Faced his diabetes, as well as high blood pressure and high cholesterol, Mathers sold his catering company and started exercising and eating well. He revealed he lost a whopping 25 kilograms.
"I’ve been controlling my weight with diet and exercise ever since," he said. "I walk every day about 6-8 miles. And I am now pre-diabetic because of that."
He added, "Dying from diabetes is a terrible way to go. It’s a really horrible death."
It was tough to maintain his healthy regime, he admitted, especially after years of indulgence, but Mathers knew his health was on the line.
"It’s really tough,” he said. "But I think, 'I can have this, but do I want to run further to get the weight off? Could I even get it off?'"
He continued, "It’s a daily struggle. I’m not cured. This is something I have to deal with all the time. And I’m hoping that by going out to educate people on diabetes, I can save my fans."